Jill Ireland (1936–1990)

Three years before this book was written, Jill Ireland had everything going for her - a thrilling movie career, seven adoring children, a lavish house in Bel Air, a rambling horse farm in Vermont and she was happily married to fellow actor Charles Bronson. Then she went to visit her doctor for an annual visit; what should have been a routine checkup revealed that Jill Ireland had breast cancer and cancer of the lymph nodes.

Determined to take responsibility for her own recovery, Jill underwent a radical mastectomy and the months of chemotherapy that her doctors prescribed. She also turned to more unconventional forms of treatment - holistic healing, homeopathic medicine, a trained counselor, a new diet, meditation, even astrology. Jill did everything that she could to get well.

Jill Ireland writes about her childhood growing up in postwar England, her early career on the stage as a dancer, her movie career in Hollywood and her children and family. She enjoyed a lively childhood, surrounded by her horses and much love. Jill Ireland merges her past and present with a vibrancy and wit that could not and would not be extinguished.

I really enjoyed this book and am happy to report that Jill Ireland did in fact, beat this bout with cancer. She was in remission for a while, but unfortunately, the cancer came back and eventually claimed her life. Jill Ireland's fighting personality reminds me so much of a close family member's personality who is currently fighting breast cancer herself. I give this book an A!… (altro)

In Jill Ireland's first book, Life Wish she chronicled her inspirational struggle to survive cancer. In Life Lines - the sequel - Jill Ireland recounts the multiple tragedies that threatened at times to overwhelm her. With her first husband, Scottish actor and musician David McCallum, Jill had three sons, one of whom, Jason, was adopted at birth from a teenaged mother. Jason's differences were noticed very early, especially when the McCallum children joined the Bronson household in 1968, when Jill Ireland married her second husband, Charles Bronson.

But in that sprawling Bel Air mansion, buzzing with activity, Jason's addictive personality was initially obscured from those who loved him. The painful journey of mother and son through his recovery from and subsequent relapses into alcoholism and drug dependency reached a turning point with the intervention of Jason's birth mother and Jill's acknowledgement of Jason's problems. Concurrently, tragedy strikes in the form of the steady physical deterioration of Jill's father, rendered speechless by a stroke.

Unfortunately, Jason died from an accidental drug overdose in 1989, six months before his mother passed away from breast cancer. I definitely respect Jill Ireland for the struggles she went through in her life, but I do have to say that Life Lines, while extremely enjoyable, was slightly annoying because it occasionally went back and forth throughout Jason's life - calling him 'Kier' before birth, and 'Jason' during his life with her. 'Kier' might have been Jason's name before he was adopted, but it was just slightly confusing for me to read as she occasionally wrote passages where 'Baby Kier's cries for his mother's love struggled to be heard through Jason's constant drug abuse.' Overall, I give Life Lines by Jill Ireland an A!… (altro)